Mizzou Football Position Preview: Safeties

There's a good chance the safety room operates as the backbone of Missouri's defense in 2026. Safeties coach Jacob Yoro is entering his second season in the role, while second-year Tiger Santana Banner is the most experienced returner on the defense. Banner's joined by a couple veteran defensive backs with multiple seasons of SEC experience, along with a plethora of young talent, some even with a chance to play a role in 2026.

The three safeties who were Week 1 starters and played 340 or more snaps in 2026, Daylan Carnell, Jalen Catalon and Marvin Burks Jr., are no longer with the team, leaving their roles to be backfilled by new faces.

There's plenty of talented options for Yoro and defensive coordinator Corey Batoon to ask to take on those larger roles.

“I think that competition is going to continue its way through those first couple of weeks as we really be able to see what guys are, you know when the lights come on and Faurot field is rocking,” Yoro told Missouri On SI.

Let's dive in to each member of the competition.

Current Players

Santana Banner
Trajen Greco
Kensley Louidor-Faustin
Jackson Hancock
Elijah Dotson
JaDon Blair
CJ Bass III
Jayden McGregory
Carter Stewart
Brody Jones

Players Lost

Daylan Carnell
Marvin Burks Jr.
Jalen Catalon
Caleb Flagg*
Mose Phillips III

Flagg left the team midseason last Sept., as Eli Drinkwitz announced the backup safety intended to redshirt the remainder of the season and enter the transfer portal.

The Coach

Yoro is entering his third season at Missouri and his second in the role of safeties coach. In Yoro's debut 2025 season in the role, Missouri allowed just 173.5 passing yards per game, the 11th-lowest mark in the nation. He helped Banner, a Group-of-Six transfer from Northern Illinois, break out and blossom into a leader of the defense.

Most of his coaching stops before joining Missouri were either in Hawai'i or on the Pacific Coast. He coached six total seasons at The University of Hawaii, serving as the defensive coordinator, as well as coaching linebackers, nickelbacks, safeties and outside linebackers. The Rainbow Warriors made a program-record four consecutive bowl games (2018-2021) and made one Mountain West Championship Game. Yoro overlapped with Batoon during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, when Batoon was Hawai'i's. defensive coordinator.

Before his time at Hawaii, Yoro served as Cal Poly's defensive backs coach from 2015-16, Pacific Oregon's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, Montana Western's linebackers coach and a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for a trio of high schools in Hawai'i, one of which is named Saint Louis School.

Yoro also played two seasons of FCS football as a linebacker at Montana.

The Returners

Oct 11, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks (17) runs the ball against Missouri Tigers safety Trajen Greco (4) during the second half at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

At the helm of the room — returners, transfers and freshmen all — is Banner, the senior entering his second season with the Tigers. Banner exploded onto the scene in 2025 after spending the first two seasons of his career at Northern Illinois, beginning as a depth piece and working his way all the way up to Missouri's top safety by the end of the season.

Banner logged a position-high 59 tackles, along with three passes defended and an interception in 482 snaps. Measuring in at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and reportedly running a 4.35-second 40-yard dash in the spring, Banner is quite the athlete. His statistical and physical profiles are enticing, but he's taken a step forward in the leadership department as well.

“Seeing Santana's growth from when he first got here to now is amazing," junior safety Trajen Greco told Missouri On SI. "When he first got here, obviously he transferred in, so maybe he wasn't trying to step on anybody's toes or anything. But at the end of the day, when you transfer in, you can correct whoever you want. You could say whatever you want. And now, from that point on, he's been a very good leader."

Greco joins Banner as the other top returner. While he doesn't have the same level of on-field experience Banner does, having played 131 snaps last season, he's still appeared in all 26 games for the Tigers in his first two seasons. The former four-star prospect in the class of 2024 is poised for a breakout season, now slotted as a potential starter alongside Banner in the secondary. According to Yoro, it's Greco's immense football IQ that makes the Georgia product standout.

“I’m really excited about what Greco has done over the last six months,” Yoro said. “He's put himself in position now to have the opportunity to be a bona fide guy for us, he's put in the work. I don't think there's another smarter DB in the country than Trajen, and so this camp's going to be big for him.”

Rounding out Missouri's returners are CJ Bass III, a former four-star safety entering his second season of college ball, and Jackson Hancock, a former three-star safety from the class of 2024. Both played less than 30 snaps in 2025, although Bass' profile makes him an intriguing candidate to get reps at the STAR position in 2026, which is left vacant in Carnell's absence.

The Transfers

While Bass could be a candidate to get reps at the STAR position, Auburn transfer Kensley Louidor-Faustin seems like he'd be the perfect man for the job, given Yoro told Missouri On SI that he's "taken reps" at the spot. The STAR position, which is a hybrid of a nickelback, linebacker and safety, requires tremendous versatility to succeed in the spot, which the new Tiger has plenty of.

"It's actually ridiculous how quick he is," Banner told Missouri On SI. "That transfers a lot, whether we're in man, we're in zone — a guy that can quickly get in an out of his breaks, make some plays on the ball."

Louidor-Faustin logged 302 snaps for Auburn last season, 188 of which were in the slot and 44 of which were in the box, per Pro Football Focus. He's one of three Tigers on the roster with triple-digit snaps of Southeastern Conference experience, joining Banner and Greco.

Two sophomores, JaDon Blair and Elijah Dotson, round out the transfer room. Dotson has also taken reps at the star position and has prior experience at a few positions during his freshman season at Michigan, splitting time in the slot and on the outside. Blair measures in at 6'5, 215 and could be a fun box safety, as indicated by his high school tape.

Freshmen

Valley High School safety Jayden McGregory alongside Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz. — Valley High School safety Jayden McGregory alongside Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz on an official visit to the University of Missouri on Sunday, June 8, 2025. | via @cbg.jay11 on Instagram, Mizzou Athletics

Missouri added three freshmen safeties in its incoming 2026 class. Headlining the trio is Iowa product Jayden McGregory, who was once a four-star product but has since been bumped down to a three-star. McGregory was ranked the No. 5 player in the state of Iowa by 247sports and measures in at 6'2, 198. He's got as good a shot as any freshman to crack the rotation in 2026.

"I look forward to Jayden McGregory being a guy that can play early," Eli Drinkwitz said at SEC Media Days.

Joining McGregory are fellow three-stars Carter Stewart and Brody Jones. Stewart was ranked the No. 214 safety in the nation by 247sports, and Jones the No. 140.

Biggest Question for Fall Camp: Which Youngsters Will Step Into Elevated Roles?

Last season, four Missouri safeties played 340 or more snaps — Banner is the lone returner of the quartet. An additional two played triple-digit snaps with Greco as the lone returner in that group. Assuming Banner, Greco and Louidor-Faustin remain as regular contributors, and Missouri keeps a relatively-similar safety rotation, at least two youngsters will need to step into larger roles.

The Final Word

“I think the biggest thing is experience, and that's not something that you can just create. I think we've done some unique things in regards to this defense this year to try to be able to create — for lack of a better term — create experience without actually experiencing it. We spent a lot of time watching last season's film, especially the highlights and the lowlights of last year, and try to give them the ability to gain experience by by watching others. And so Coach Drink always talks about it. You can either live and learn, or you can listen and learn. And so these guys are going to have to be able to listen and learn, learn from you know guys from last year's mistakes, and we got to be able to hit the ground running.”
Jacob Yoro

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